So you're flipping channels looking for something to watch and you come across a battle scene in a familiar show. One character in particular is making a very good showing, doing at least as much as the main character to save the day. But who is this mysterious person in the Badass Longcoat? Did you miss the episode where he was introduced? Why the nagging feeling of familiarity? And then it hits — you know this kid. It's just that last time you saw this person, he was a nebbishy wisecracker with the constitution of a glass-jawed squirrel. What happened to transform him so completely? Simple: last time he leveled up, he took a level in badass.

The reference comes from roleplaying, where it's sometimes possible to "take a level" in a completely different class. For instance: a level ten Fighter could take a level in Wizard, therefore being both a level ten Fighter and a level one Wizard. The joke is presumably that if Bad Ass was a class and you could take a level in it, you would thereby become Bad Ass where you weren't before. Actual RPG classes are, of course, supposed to be balanced so that literally taking one level in something doesn't normally make you greatly more powerful. Blending this with modern gaming, however, one can achieve what is known as "badass grinding", where one takes multiple levels in badass.

Not to be confused with the British variant Took an A level in Badarse, although you can bet that if that was a legitimate education option that everyone would do it. Also not to be confused with Took a Level in Jerkass, where a normally nice person becomes a bad seed.

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